Winter Blog Hop , Day 15 – Making Mince Pies with Nina Croft

Can you believe it’s Day 15 already? Today’s guest is my friend and critique partner, Nina Croft. Nina lives in Spain, but I think I made her a little nostalgic for England recently when I told her about my visit to her hometown in northern England. She’s sharing a post about English Christmas traditions, and Read More

Winter Blog Hop, Day 13 – Julie Jarnagin

It’s Day 13! Today’s guest is USA Today bestselling author of sweet and inspirational romance, Julie Jarnagin. Are you looking for gift ideas for the readers in your life? Julie’s found some fun, unique items for any book lover! Hop over to her website to read all about them. Here’s Julie’s latest release, Engaged by Friday: Read More

Winter Blog Hop, Day 8 – Miranda Liasson and a Giveaway!

On deck today is my NEORWA sister, the all-around wonderful Miranda Liasson. Hop on over to her blog for some thoughts on why we love Christmas movies, but first, take a look at her brand new release, Can’t Stop Loving You! And stop by Book Partners in Crime for a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift Read More

Winter Blog Hop, Day 7 – Love’s in the Cards with Becky Lower, & a Giveaway!

Becky Lower visits again today with a post about where she got the idea for her new Christmas novella, Love’s in the Cards, which releases today from The Wild Rose Press. Happy book birthday, Becky! Scroll down to the bottom for a special giveaway from me and Becky.  People often ask writers where they get Read More

Winter Blog Hop, Day 6 – Landra Graf & a Giveaway

Today’s post comes to you from author Landra Graf, one of my talented critique partners at Passionate Critters. Comment below on your favorite Christmas tradition for a chance to win a $10 Amazon gift card and an ebook from Landra! Christmas Traditions Christmas is one of those things as a child you grow up being Read More

Winter Blog Hop! Day 2 – Anni Fife

Welcome to day 2 of the Winter Blog Hop! Today’s guest is Anni Fife. Anni writes seriously steamy romance for The Wild Rose Press. Hop on over to Anni’s blog, where she’s giving us Dani’s Inside Track on Online Shopping–For Fashionistas Everywhere!  A marvelously fun post about that time of year when she’s looking for life-saving shopping Read More

Winter Blog Hop! Day 1 – Peggy Jaeger

Welcome to my Winter Blog Hop! From now until December 25, I’ll be featuring a different romance author, everywhere along the spectrum from historical to paranormal to contemporary, many of whom will be offering a giveaway. Stop by every day to see who’s on deck. Today’s visitor is fellow Wild Rose author Peggy Jaeger. Peggy Read More

It’s NaNovember so this will be short…

It’s NaNoWriMo–National Novel Writing Month–for many of us in the writing world, that crazy time of year when we are glued to our laptops for an entire month, even more antisocial than usual, vomiting at least 1667 words per day for a total of 50,000 by November 30. I’ve spent the latter part of this Read More

Author Interview: DeeDee Lane

So it’s been awhile since I’ve done an author interview, but I’m jumping back into the fray with a special Thursday edition of an interview with fellow Wild Rose author DeeDee Lane. DeeDee’s latest release, My Law Man, is a time travel novella set in the Old West. Welcome, DeeDee! Hi Marin and All, My name Read More

Conquering Fear

Yesterday I spent the day with writer friends from the Northeast Ohio chapter of RWA, participating in a workshop presented by Bob Mayer. He spoke about many things in his six-hour talk, including turning ideas into stories, recognizing and developing conflict (my biggest problem, perhaps), outlining and plotting, characters’ needs and flaws, and story arcs. But for some Read More